Do You Know Your Alpaca?

Among the few business e-newsletters that we subscribe to is SmartBrief, with its quick digest information and links to longer articles in the author blog sites. I often find something interesting, useful, and insightful. But rarely does a headline hit like shock of water on the face. It was in fact, a biting statement - cool and detached and maybe a bit aggressive. The subject line read: "Why You Shouldn't Keep Working With A Nightmare Client" Ouch! We know they exist and there is a point where it is not worth the headache and sometimes heartache to try to please this client. You may need to create some distance with those folks. But it got me thinking -- when is this really a nightmare client and when is that you are just 'off on the wrong foot'? I thought to myself, is there anything I can do to prevent this? So, now, on the flip side, in this very same newsletter was a tidbit whose caption fed right into my second line of thinking: "Your Salespeople Must Know Your Products Inside and Out" with the quote by Vanessa Merit Nornberg of Metal Mafia: "You can have the nicest sales people in the world, but if they don't know your product, they are simply useless." Inc Doesn't that say it all? Now ask yourself how many times you have questioned what another breeder or article has said. How many times did YOU not know the answer to a question? Do you know how to 'handle' alpacas? How to prepare fiber for mini-mill processing? Commercial processing? Handspinning? Do you use your own fiber so you REALLY know what makes it special? Beyond fiber, do you know about HOW to run your farm, do breedings, give medical care? We all have areas we can be improving on to make us better breeders, better experts to our clients, and better SALESMEN. Know your product and you will sell with confidence -- knowing the right price, the right use, the right buyer.... "Do I know my product (alpaca, fiber) or what should I learn about today" ...this is the question you should ask yourself each day.